Tag Archives: persistence

One of Henrie Ford’s most inspiring stories comes from when he decided that he wanted to produce his famous V-8 motor. The design was put on paper but all of his engineers agreed that it was impossible to cast an eight cylinder engine block in one piece. To this, Ford said, “produce it anyway.” So his engineers went to work. Months passed by with no success. Soon it had been a full year and the engineers answer to Ford was that it was still “Impossible.”

He told his engineers to stay on the job no matter how long it took. He wanted it and he was going to have it! Then one day as if by a stroke of magic, they discovered the secret and Ford had his V-8 motor.

There is so much to be learned from this story. One lesson could be about desire. Henry Ford knew exactly what he wanted and he was determined to get it. But I want to talk about Persistence.

per·sist·ence

pərˈsistəns/

firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

Henry Ford knew exactly what he wanted and he wasn’t’ going to stop until he had it. In Napoleon Hill’s book, Think & Grow Rich , Persistence is the Eighth Step Towards Riches. He says that the “lack of persistence is one of the major causes of failure.” “Without persistence, you will be defeated, even before you start. With persistence you will win.”

To be successful we need to know exactly what we want and have a plan to attain it. We have to be willing to learn from our failures along the way and adjust our plan. But most of all, we need persistence. Without persistence, when we are faced with defeat we will quite. With persistence, we will pick ourselves up and keep on trying. And Win!